Using the Paint Window

The Paint window provides common paint tools such as the Air Brush and Paint Bucket tools and the shape tools for creating and editing graphic cast members. In the next task, you will use one of the shape tools, the Filled Ellipse tool, to create a bullet for the presentation's bullet points. You will also use another Paint window tool, Gradient Colors, to add more visual interest to the bullet.

Figure .

An empty Paint window appears. In the next steps, you will select gradient colors for the Gradient Colors tool and then create a bullet object and apply a gradient setting to it.

Figure .

2.

Click the foreground color chip on the Paint window's Gradient Colors tool and select the same color you assigned to the bullet point text.

This is the beginning color of the color blend you will create with this tool. You will also select a destination color that the Gradient Colors tool will use as the end color of the blend it will create in an object.

Figure .

3.

Click the destination gradient color chip and choose a bright color as the destination color.

Figure .

The Gradient Colors tool now displays the foreground and destination gradient colors you chose. A blend of these colors will fill objects you create in the Paint window when you apply Gradient ink to them.

4.

Click the Filled Ellipse tool.

Select the Filled Ellipse tool to draw an ellipse or a circle that is filled with the currently selected ink.

5.

Click the Ink Selector and choose Gradient.

Figure .

You have just assigned Gradient ink to the Filled Ellipse tool you selected. The objects you draw using the Filled Ellipse tool will be filled with a gradient blend of the colors you chose for the Gradient Colors tool. In the next step, you will select a gradient pattern that Director will use to blend the colors.

6.

Click the Gradient Colors menu and select Sun Burst.

The Gradient Colors menu selector is the small area between the gradient foreground and destination color chips.

Figure .

The Sun Burst pattern blends the gradient colors from the center of an object outward. The color at the center of the object will be the destination color, and the foreground gradient color will appear at the outer edge.

7.

With the Filled Ellipse tool still selected, hold down the Shift key and drag to create a small circle shape in the Paint window.

Holding down the Shift key as you drag creates a perfect circle. To create a bullet that is the appropriate size, keep this shape very small, just a little larger than the Filled Ellipse tool in the Paint window's tool palette.

Figure .

Tip

To remove an object from the Paint window, use the Marquee tool in the Paint window's tool palette. Click the Marquee tool and drag a marquee around the object; then press Delete. You can also double-click the Eraser tool. If you don't like the bullet you created, you can remove it and try again.

8.

Close the Paint window.

In the cast, the thumbnail view of the bullet shows the blend of the gradient colors you selected.

Figure .

You have finished creating the text and the bullet for the presentation's bullet list. The next step is to place these items in the score and animate them.